Emma Watson Watched ‘Pretty Wild’ ‘So Many Times’

As a teenager I was obsessed with Sofia Coppola’s directorial debut, The Virgin Suicides, and then came the Harry Potter movies, and now, as an adult, I find myself voyeuristically fascinated by reality shows.

Obviously The Bling Ring, directed by Coppola, starring Emma Watson and based on Alexis Neiers from one of my favorite “bad” reality shows, Pretty Wild, is my kind of movie.

After reading various interviews with Watson about The Bling Ring, I started feeling like she was skirting the issue of who her character, Nicki, is actually supposed to be. Watson FINALLY spoke candidly about Pretty Wild when a 16-year-old Rookie Magazine interviewer mentioned Pretty Wild and asked if she had received any feedback from Neiers.

EMMA WATSON: No, I haven’t. To be fair to Alexis, [my character] is like three steps removed from who she might be in real life. A lot of the material in the movie was based on an article which was based on a reality show, which we all know isn’t real life. I wasn’t trying to impersonate her—she just inspired the character. I watched Pretty Wild so many times to try and get her into my brain, though.